In autumn 2009 Józef Głuchowski visited the office of one of the banks. He spent there two hours and at one point he asked if he could use the toilet. The employees said that there was no public toilet in the office and he could not use the employees’ restroom. The man had no choice but to urinate in the gate near the bank.
-My clothes got dirty. I felt very humiliated. I could not take the tram back home, because I smelt. There was no light in the toilet that I was finally allowed to use. It reminded me of the time when, during the war, I was buried under the rubble. This caused an additional shock – says Głuchowski.
The man informed the prosecutor’s office, sanitary inspection and the construction supervision that controls the establishments about this situation. According to the documents, the banks claim there is not no public toilets in their office for safety reasons and because they were used by the homeless and drug addicts.
The case will be settled by the court in Warsaw. The key issue will be to decide whether a bank, as a public institution, should provide toilets for their clients, and whether the failure to do so can constitute violation of personal goods such as dignity. The representatives of the banks claimed in their letters send to the plaintiff that they provided financial services, and were not a public toilet.
-Mr. Głuchowski believes his dignity was violated. According to the Constitution dignity is the source of all other human rights and freedoms – says Barbara Grabowska, the coordinator of the Strategic Litigation Program at the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights. – Mr. Głuchowski is very firm. He speaks before the cameras and is ready to testify in the court. Many people would be probably unwilling to make this case public.
According to Barbara Grabowska this case may set an important precedence. The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights will be observing the legal proceedings.
